Aslan, Raoul

(1890-1958)

   Director, actor. Aslan was born in Greece but received his education in Vienna, where as a teenager he studied with Adolf Sonnenthal. He worked regularly in Hamburg, Berlin, and Stuttgart, while appearing in several films. Many critics praised his Oedipus as comparable to that of Werner Krauss. Aslan became an outstanding character actor in classical roles during the Third Reich, though he won the highest praise for his role as the debonair Bolingbroke in the Burgtheater's production of Eugène Scribe's A Glass of Water. He was nominated for the honorary title Staatsschauspieler (state actor), an indication of the favor he found among leading National Socialists. After World War II he remained in Vienna, where for three years he was director of the Burgtheater.